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Young Jedi Knights

Book 3

The Rise Of The Shadow Academy

The Lost Ones

by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta

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1

"Must be a sign of maturity," Jaina teased.

"Who, me?" Jacen said, pretending to take offense. "Nah." Then, as if to disprove her theory, he flashed a lopsided grin that made him look like a younger version of their father, Han Solo. "Want to hear a joke?"

Jaina rolled her eyes and tucked a strand of straight brown hair behind one ear to keep it away from her face. "Don't suppose you'd take no for an answer?" Then pretending to have a brilliant idea, she snapped her fingers. "Say, why don't you go up to the cockpit and tell it to Tenel Ka instead?"

She knew full well that the young warrior woman, one of their closest friends at the Jedi academy, had never even smiled - much less laughed -

at Jacen's jokes, though he tried daily to coax a chuckle from her.

"I want you to be a test audience first," he said. "Then I'll go try it on Lowie - wherever he is. He's got a pretty good sense of humor for a Wookiee."

"Shouldn't be too hard to find him," Jaina said. "The Falcon's not that big, and you can be pretty sure he's somewhere near a computer."

"Hey, you're just trying to distract me from telling my joke," Jacen said. "You ready?"

Jaina heaved a long-suffering sisterly sigh. "All right, what's the joke?

"

"Okay, how long does Uncle Luke need to sleep?"

She gave a puzzled frown. "You got me."

"One Jedi night!" He laughed out loud, proud of his joke.

Jaina gave a melodramatic groan. "I don't think even Lowie will laugh at that one."

Jacen looked crestfallen. "I thought it was one of my best jokes so far.

I made it up myself." Then his face brightened. "Hey, I wonder if Zekk is still hanging around back on Coruscant. He always laughed at my jokes."

Jaina smiled at the mention of their mischievous friend, a street urchin who had been taken in and cared for by old Peckhum, the man who brought supplies to the Jedi academy A couple of years older than the twins, Zekk had proven to be a resourceful scamp, despite his disadvantaged life.

Jaina would sit and listen to Zekk for hours as he regaled her with stories of his childhood on Ennth and how, when the colony had been devastated by a natural disaster, he had escaped on the next supply ship.

Jaina had to admire Zekk's determination.

The wild dark-haired boy never did anything unless he wanted to. In fact, when the captain of the rescue ship had suggested that Zekk might be better off in an orphanage or a foster home, Zekk had jumped ship to another outbound freighter at the very next stop and stowed away on it.

From then on he had traveled from planet to planet, sometimes working as a cabin boy, sometimes stowing away, until one day he had met old Peckhum, who was on his way to Coruscant. Though both were independent, somehow a friendship had formed, and they had been together ever since.

"Okay, Zekk might laugh at your joke," Jaina agreed at last. "He has a strange sense of humor."

Leaving the Jedi academy far behind on Yavin 4, Jaina and Jacen watched the viewscreen in silence as the stars stretched into starlines and the Millennium Falcon flew into hyperspace, taking them toward Coruscant.

Toward home. Sitting at the hologame table in the rec area, Jacen studied the board. He racked his brains for a strategy to counter Lowie's previous gambit.

"It is your turn," Tenel Ka pointed out, her voice low and matter-of-fact.

Jacen had been hoping to impress his friends by winning a game or two, but he found it hard to concentrate with Tenel Ka beside him. She crossed her bare arms over her reptile-skin tunic, watching his every move. Her reddish gold hair, tamed into numerous braids, dangled wildly around her head and shoulders every time she spoke or shifted position.

Across the table, Jaina stood behind Lowie and conferred with the ginger-furred Wookiee in a whisper, pointing from one holographic gamepiece to another. The tiny wriggling figures